Action Research for Sustainable Mobile Learning: Perspectives from the Field in Dharavi, Mumbai

Abstract

This research seeks to understand how a widely available and relatively affordable technology - the mobile phone - can be used to help disadvantaged young people in the urban slum of Dharavi, Mumbai, to improve their English language skills. In partnership with a technical organisation and a local NGO, and employing the principles of action research, this study is researching the extent to which a piece of learning software for mobile phones can sustainably enhance the learning of participants enrolled on a local NGO's educational initiative. With fieldwork currently underway, this poster presentation will seek to present the study's aims and preliminary findings, and discuss some of the methodological challenges associated with action research.